As this site has grown, so has the number of sports and coaching analogies. It seems that one way to communicate excellence in the classroom is to compare it to excellence on the field or court. As sports-related posts/discussions/resources are added to The Assessment Network, links to them will be added to this blog, making it a one stop shop for all AFL-related sports references.

If you’re reading this and are from Salem, VA you might have a clue what that statement means. If you’re not from Salem you’re probably wondering what the heck I’m talking about.

A little background: High school football is a pretty big deal in Salem, just like it is in so many small towns across our country. But in Salem, Virginia, football might be a slightly bigger deal than in most towns. The Salem Spartans have had great…

As schools and teachers adopt the philosophies of Assessment FOR Learning, it's only natural that grading practices will begin to change. (Click here for more info on grading as it relates to AFL.) We need to realize that some of those changes will seem strange to some of the parents of our students. It's…

Sometimes when you're learning a new skill or trying to figure out how to apply a new philosophy, it helps to watch that skill or philosophy being used or implemented in a totally different arena. Thinking outside the box and adopting new ideas can be difficult when you're extremely familiar with your own domain. Observing the skill or philosophy at work in someone else's domain is less threatening. Once you are able to see the benefit of the skill or the power of the philosophy it might…

A natural outgrowth of the AFL philosophy is the idea that redos are essential to learning. After all, if learning (rather than calculating a grade) is what's most important, and if for learning to occur students need lots of practice and opportunities to learn from their mistakes, then redoing an assignment just makes sense. If students can't redo an assignment - either right away, at a later date, or by demonstrating mastery on a future assignment - then by definition the assignment was…

First, a disclaimer: I am not and never have been a Math teacher. After teaching Modern World History for 7 years, I went to the "Dark Side" and became an administrator, so I probably don't know anything about teaching Math.

However, I do know a few things about teaching in general. Furthermore, I have a pretty good grasp of the philosophy of AFL and how applying it in the classroom can increase student learning. So I'm going to give this a shot.

The January 2013 edition of the Association for Pyschological Science's journal has a great article about what impacts students' learning. What they found is that certain techniques and strategies have a positive impact on students learning content (and should be continued) and that certain techniques and strategies have little to no impact on student learning (and should be stopped).

The strategies with little impact include summarizing content, highlighting, and rereading…

As readers of blogs on this site know, I love the philosophy of Assessment FOR Learning. However, a philosophy is only as valuable as the results it produces. I'd like to share with you some results of AFL's impact on teaching and learning at the school where it is my privilege to serve as an Assistant Principal - Salem High School in Salem, VA.

When our school first starting investigating Assessment FOR Learning 4 years ago, the first teacher we had address our faculty with an AFL classroom example was Bert Weschke, our Welding teacher. Recently, as I have engaged in some conversations about applying AFL practices to the classroom - or more specifically, NOT applying those strategies - I have come back in my mind to Bert's example. There's a lot to learn about AFL from the way Bert Weschke teaches students to "lay a…

Assessment in on-line classes presents significant challenges for both students and teachers, especially for teachers like me who give a lot of importance to evidence gathered throughout the course by performance tasks.

The purpose of framing assessment around performance tasks is to clearly distinguish between those who really understand from those who only seem to because through performance understanding becomes "visible". This is the reason that assessments are frequently…

The simple answer to the title question is "Yes". If you're just interested in the simple answer, then you can stop reading. If you'd like more details, read on.

I'm going to share a specific example of how AFL can be used to impact student behavior; however, first I'd like to take a look at the topic from a philosophical standpoint. We should start by reminding ourselves why it is that AFL helps students learn content. AFL practices help students learn because as a…

Over the past several years, I have had the opportunity to talk with educators from schools across the country about the philosophy of AFL. In doing so I have noticed several common reactions from educators to the idea of incorporating AFL-based strategies into their classrooms. One of those common reactions is the one that SOME (not all) teachers of higher-level students and more rigorous courses OFTEN (…

Here's a sure sign that you don't fully understand AFL and how AFL practices will lead to your goal of helping students learn the content you teach:

You teach a primarily fact-based class or are currently teaching fact-based content - such as History, Biology, or Health - and the first time that your students are assessed/quizzed/tested/etc on facts it's on a graded assignment that goes into your grade book and is averaged with other assignments to determine a final…

Do you remember how having children of your own changed your perspective on what goes on in the classroom? (If you don't have children of your own yet, trust me - they will have an impact on your teaching!) So take a look at these 2 letters. I don't think any parent would ever actually send either of these, but if they did, which parent would you most want to please?

Members of this AFL Network will appreciate this article (link at end of blog post) written by Laurie Amundson and published in the November 2011 edition of Ed Leadership.

Laurie Amundson is an elementary teacher. A majority of our members are high school educators which could mean that some tweaking of her practices would be in order. For example, some of the assessment she does of…